


never tell me the odds

by writerforlife



Category: The Society (TV 2019)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I love this show, M/M, but there's also grizz/sam never fear, communication is key folks!, this def focuses on grizz's dynamic with the guard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 00:31:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20144575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writerforlife/pseuds/writerforlife
Summary: After an incident with Campbell, Grizz comes to an understanding with the rest of the Guard.





	never tell me the odds

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am with another Society fic!! I don't know how... good?? this is?? I just like writing about Sam and Grizz and the Guard and I hope some of you guys like it too :)

Grizz has talked about it with Sam—it’s safer for everyone if the Guard and Campbell thinks that he’s on their side. Grizz can gain insight into what they’re doing, maybe even find Allie and Will. He can keep Campbell away from Sam, Becca, and Eden. He can help the countermovement that’s forming against Harry, Lexie, and by default, Campbell. 

It doesn’t mean he has to like it.

They have these “meetings.” They’re glorified hang-outs where everyone drinks themselves into a haze at night. Grizz hates them, but if he doesn’t go, it looks suspicious. Tonight, he especially hates being there. Becca brought Eden to Kelly’s house for the night, so he  _ would’ve  _ had the night alone with Sam, but Luke had to invite him to one of these shitshows at Harry’s house. He’s sitting with Harry, Campbell, Luke, Clark, and Jason, with a beer in hand, thinking about Sam at home. He  _ hates  _ this. Unequivocally. Funnily enough, Harry—four beers in—looks just as miserable. 

Clark says something that vaguely resembles _ another beer.  _ He pops open a bottle and promptly spills it over his shirt. He stares at it sadly before reaching for another bottle. 

Grizz sighs. 

He doesn’t understand how he got here. He doesn’t understand how his high school friends—Luke, who was gentle and reserved off the football field; Clark, who despite everything, really did mean well; Jason, who was always loyal, protective—have turned into  _ this _ . They’re aligned with a psychopath. His secret boyfriend’s psychopath brother. Maybe he needs a beer. 

“Man,” Jason says. He burps, his eyes widening, before continuing. “Olivia  _ dumped  _ me. She said that I’m being a fucking moron. Can you believe that?”

“Nah, Gwen said something similar, dude,” Clark said. 

Luke twisted his lips unhappily. “Helena’s mad at me.” His eyes flick to Grizz, then away quickly as he frowns. Things have been weird between them. Lots of things unsaid. 

Campbell chuckles. Grizz wants to punch him. He’s never actually punched anyone—the closest he came was on the football field, when there was a dirty tackle and Luke broke his arm—but he thinks he could punch Campbell, especially with how Sam talks about him. Dread in his eyes, hands shaking. 

“At least you have a girlfriend still,” Harry says.

The four of them drink. Grizz, too, takes a sip of his beer. He wishes he was eating shitty mac and cheese with Sam. Only a few more minutes, then he could make his escape. 

“Elle and I never fight,” Campbell says. “She’s a sweetheart. I’m not an arguer, though. Allie, Cassandra and I never had problems. Same with my parents. Sam, though, he was a little spitfire. He liked to fight with me for the sake of fighting.” 

The hairs on the back of Grizz’s neck prickle. It seems like Campbell’s eyes are on him. 

“I just had to show him who was boss,” Campbell continues. “The little shit. If I hit him enough times, he’d stop signing. I almost broke both his wrists, once.” 

Jason laughs nervously. Grizz puts down his beer and leans forward. 

“It’s all about control.” Campbell’s eyes find Grizz’s—he isn’t imagining it this time. “I’d put my hands around his neck and squeeze. He’d go all red and beg me to stop. Sometimes, I wasn’t sure if I would or not. Depended on my mood, you know?”

An uncomfortable silence settles. Luke pales, running his hand through his hair. Clark and Jason trade a glance. 

Campbell laughs. “Come on, guys, it’s not like I killed him.”

Grizz realizes, suddenly, that Sam didn’t tell him any of this. “What else did you do to him?” he asks quietly. All eyes turn to him. 

“Oh, this and that, Campbell says. “We liked to play with animals sometimes. You should ask him about the cigarettes. That was a laugh.”

“Cigarettes?” Luke asks. 

But Grizz understands. He’s asked Sam about the puckered circular scar on his shoulder, and Sam has refused to answer. A horrible image comes to his mind, a horrible sound, and he stands. Campbell smiles. 

Grizz makes some vague excuse and stumbles outside onto the pool deck. Cold air bites his skin; his stomach turns, and before he knows it, he’s on his knees, puking into the bushes. He digs his nails into the dirt. Campbell hurt Sam, time and time again, and nobody… Grizz retches again and spits bile. Fuck this. He needs to go home. He needs to…

There are footsteps behind him. Grizz wipes his lip and stands to see Luke approaching, head ducked and hands in his pockets. They stare at each other for a moment before Luke clears his throat. “How about I walk you home, man?” he says. “You’re obviously fucked up.”

“Fuck off,” Grizz says. 

“You’re  _ obviously  _ drunk off your ass.” Luke’s eyes flick toward the window, where Harry, Campbell, Jason, and Clark are watching. “How about I help you get home, and we can talk?”

Grizz wordlessly falls into step next to Luke. He expects Luke to turn toward where Grizz lives, but he walks toward Becca’s house. 

“This is the wrong way,” Grizz says. 

“No, it isn’t,” Luke says. “I’m right, right?”

Grizz rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah.” He’s silent for a few moments before saying, “I don’t know what to do. I can’t take this shit much longer.”

Luke nods. 

“Stop nodding,” Grizz snaps. “Like you didn’t go along with everything that fucking monster wanted. You  _ knew  _ what he was going to do, and you supported him. You acted like a coward, Luke. Don’t give me any excuses.” 

Luke exhales. “I deserve that.” 

Quiet stretches between them again. Grizz’s mind races. Luke… he’s Grizz’s friend, in a different way than Clark and Jason. They were always close; Grizz would tell Luke things he didn’t tell the others. He claimed he wouldn’t have talked to Luke in college, but that was more about leaving West Ham behind. Maybe with a few months, a year or so, he would’ve wanted to speak to him. He’ll never know, now. This is the hand they’ve been dealt, and they have to play it. His eyes and throat burn, and he wants to say something, but Luke clears his throat first. 

“So,” he begins. “How long have you been sleeping with Sam?”

Grizz freezes. “What?”

“Don’t worry, man, I haven’t told anyone. Is it serious? Or are you just fucking?”

“We…” Grizz rubs the back of his neck, avoiding Luke’s gaze. “Bro, how the fuck did you figured it out? We were so careful, we…” 

“Educated guess.”

“Oh. Shit.” 

“ _ Shit  _ is right. The things Campbell said… if someone did that shit to Helena, I’d kill him.”

“Fuck, I can’t even think about it.” Grizz runs his hand through his hair. “Everything Campebll did, I’d go through it myself if Sam didn’t have to.” Luke glances at him curiously. “What’s that look for?”

“Nothing,” Luke says. “I just, uh, didn’t know.”

“Know what?”

“That you’re in love with him.”

“I’m not… Sam and I… we’re…” Grizz exhales. “We’re not. It’s just that the thought of him scared or bruised or bleeding, even for a second makes me… fuck, Luke, I’m in love with him. I love him. If Campbell finds out, he’ll hurt him.” 

“What about you?” Luke asks quietly. 

“I’ll look out for myself. I, um, have to get home to him. I’ll… I’ll take care of things. Goodnight, Luke.”

Luke may have said something else, but Grizz doesn’t hear it. He walks quickly, keeping his head down, until he reaches Becca’s house. He unlocks the door and shrugs off his coat. His heart pounds as he moves into the kitchen, where he sees Sam making spaghetti. Sam turns, a half-smile on his face, and Grizz’s stomach turns again.

_ Campbell hurt him.  _

Grizz pulls him into his arms. He buries his face in Sam’s hair and holds him close to his chest. A tear slides down his cheek as Sam curls his fingers into Grizz’s shirt. When Grizz pulls away, he smooths Sam’s hair, then presses a kiss to his forehead.

“Rough night?” Sam signs. 

“I know I’m doing this so we can be safe, but… I’m so tired of pretending,” Grizz replies. “I hate being in the same room as Campbell. Want to know what he was talking about tonight?”

Sam’s eyes cloud. 

“He hurt you,” Grizz signs. “He hurt you and he bragged about it. You should’ve told me.” Grizz’s voice breaks. “Baby, I wish you would’ve told me.”

Sam’s lower lip trembles. “I didn’t want you to know.”

“Why not?”

“Because this is how things  _ are.  _ I protected my parents from Campbell because they didn’t want to admit how bad it was. I kept him away from Becca. Nobody needed to know that he’d, I don’t know, pushed me down the stairs or told me I was worthless.”

“He said you were worthless?”

“I want to protect you from him, too.” 

“This is a two-way street. We’re in this together. It was a bad night, yeah, but we’ll get through it. I’ll do whatever I have to do, and I know you will, too. We’ll stay safe.” 

Sam bites his lip and cups Grizz’s jaw, then leans forward and kisses him. Grizz sighs into Sam’s lips and deepens the kiss; he brings his hands to Sam’s back. Sam guides them toward the couch and pushes Grizz onto the cushions, then settles between Grizz’s legs. When Sam takes off his shirt, Grizz runs his hand over the cigarette scar. Sam exhales and presses their chests together; Grizz holds him. Maybe if he holds him tight enough, he can protect him from everything that comes next. 

“We have to…” Grizz tips his head back and groans as Sam kisses his neck, his collarbone. “We have to actually talk about this.”

“Not tonight,” Sam signs. 

And when Sam kisses his neck again, Grizz forgets about talking altogether. 

#

Grizz wakes up to someone pounding on the front door. 

“Fuck,” he mutters, wincing at the pain in his neck and back. He glances at the clock. Nearly eight in the morning. Too fucking early. They never made it to their bed last night, and they stayed up  _ way  _ too late. Grizz eases himself from underneath Sam and wraps a blanket around himself. When he opens the door, he freezes. 

Luke, Clark, and Jason, all wearing their varsity jackets, stand in the doorway. 

“Hey,” Grizz says. 

“Bro,” Clark says. “Is that a hickey?” 

Grizz touches his collarbone, where there is indeed a hickey. 

“Dude.” Jason laughed gleefully and clutched Clark’s shoulders. “Dudes, Grizz has a fucking  _ hickey _ . Like, for real.” His jaw drops. “Sam  _ Eliot  _ gave you a hickey?” 

Luke punches Jason’s arm. “I told you to be sensitive, dipshit.” 

Grizz sighs. “Can I put on a fucking shirt?”

“Yeah, man.” Luke rubs the back of his neck. “Can we come in? We, uh, wanted to talk to you after last night.” 

Against his better judgement, Grizz nods. “Sam’s asleep on the couch.” 

“We’ll be super quiet,” Clark whispers. Jason holds his fingers to his lips and creeps inside. Grizz can only stare at both of them incredulously. 

“You… you really don’t have to be quiet,” Grizz says. 

Jason furrows his brow. “Your boyfriend’s sleeping.”

“Jason, you could bring the entire school marching band through here and he wouldn’t wake up.” Grizz grabs his shirt off the back of the couch and shrugs it on, waiting for it to click in Jason’s mind. It doesn’t. “He’s deaf. He can’t  _ hear. _ ”

“I know what deaf means,” Clark says, as Jason’s eyes widen in realization. Luke just stares at Grizz plaintively. 

“Sure you do, man.” Grizz walks into the kitchen, and the other three trail behind him. “So why are you here? All of you?” 

“We, uh… we feel shitty about last night,” Clark says. 

“And we talked more afterwards,” Jason says. “Things aren’t good in New Ham right now. Nobody’s happy, and we think that’s kinda our fault.”

“Kinda?” Grizz echoes. 

“A lot our fault.” Luke straightens his shoulders. “We, um…” He trails off. Grizz turns around. Sam circles the kitchen island, studying everyone in the kitchen with a curious expression. Grizz shrugs, as if that will explain anything. Sam glares at Luke, jaw set; he narrows his eyes as he turns to Clark and Jason. Grizz ducks his head to hide a smile, but Sam hits the countertop twice to get his attention. 

“Why are they here?” Sam signs. 

“Just to talk,” Grizz signs in response. “Although they haven’t said much.” 

Sam wrinkles his nose, then comes to Grizz’s side and folds his arms over his chest. He positions himself slightly between Grizz and the others, shoulders squared. “Then talk,” he says. 

“Okay,” Luke says. “We don’t want to work with Harry and Lexie anymore.”

“Or Campbell,” Jason adds.

“Your brother is fucking insane,” Clark says to Sam. “Like bananas.”

Sam scoffs. “No shit.”

“No, like, actually insane,” Jason says.

“I think he knows, guys,” Grizz says. 

“We’ve been thinking… maybe Allie was doing a good job,” Clark says. 

Sam turns to Grizz, a pained expression on his face. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he signs. Luke must get the gist, because he clears his throat. 

“We thought about it a lot,” Luke says. “We know there’s, like, a bunch of people who want Harry and Lexie gone and Lexie back. We want to help. Be double agents or some spy shit like that. We fucked up, yeah, and there’s no excusing that, but we have to get Campbell out of there. Sam, you know better than anyone how we could take him down, and Grizz… we miss you, man. You’re smart. People listen to you. Kelly, Helena, and Elle have plans, but they need support.  _ We  _ need support.” 

“Yeah,” Jason says. “We’re sorry.” 

“We… we need rules,” Clark chimes in. “I thought I didn’t want laws or any of that shit, but I think we need them. I don’t want to be a stormtrooper.”

Grizz suddenly regrets showing them  _ Star Wars.  _

“Whatever we do, it’ll be dangerous,” Grizz says. “There’s the baby to think of. This will be like… a countermovement or something.”

Jason’s eyes light up. “A revolution!” 

“Not a fucking revolution.”

“It’s kind of a revolution,” Clark says. “Dude, we’re revolutionaries.” 

“This isn’t funny,” Sam interrupts. “Campbell is smart. Nobody listens to me when I say that. We have to know the consequences of what we’re doing. You killed Dewey. If it comes down to it, you’ll have to kill him, too. We’ll need a plan.” 

“Hey,” Luke says. He grips Sam’s shoulder. Grizz grimaces. He knows that gesture. It’s the quarterback pep talk shoulder grip. “Look, man, we looked out for each other in high school, and, um, we always looked out for the girlfriends— _ partners _ , too. We may have fucked up, but I want to change that, and we’re in deep shit, now.” Luke’s gaze flicks to Grizz. “We protect each other. We’ll make a plan.” 

Grizz expects Sam to laugh or say something sarcastic, but instead, he says, “Can you protect Grizz from Campbell?”

“What?” Grizz says. He moves behind Luke. “Babe, I’m—”

“Can you protect him?” Sam repeats. “Because if you can’t, Campbell will kill him. He’ll figure out that we’re together. If he told Grizz all those things he did to me the other night, he may already know. He’ll want to get to me. He wouldn’t touch Becca because Kelly would kill him, and he needs Kelly for Harry. That leaves Grizz. I need a guarantee that you can keep him safe. I can’t stand between them forever.” 

“Sam—” Grizz starts.

“Yeah,” Jason interrupts. Clark nods vigorously. 

“Absolutely,” Luke says. “Nothing’s gonna happen. Nothing’s gonna happen to you, either. We watch Grizz’s back, Grizz watches yours.” Luke’s eyes flick to Grizz. “He always, um, was the best on the defensive line. Saved my ass a few times.” 

“We haven’t…” Clark scratches the back of his head. “We aren’t doing too good. My insides feel funny all the time.”

Sam looks at Grizz, eyebrow raised. “He’s anxious and sad,” Grizz signs. 

Everyone is silent for a minute before Sam says, “You guys are serious.” 

“Yes,” Luke replies. 

Sam nods. “Okay.” 

All eyes turn to Grizz, expectant. Grizz exhales. “Okay.”

He senses the energy in the room change. A hesitant smile comes to Luke’s lips, even as he fidgets nervously. “Then we’ll, um, figure something out? Some like… plan or something? We have to get back soon, though. Campbell…” 

“I understand,” Grizz says. “We’ll talk later. I’ll walk you guys out.” 

He squeezes Sam’s hand quickly, then leads Luke, Clark, and Jason outside. He rubs the back of his neck, not quite sure what to say to any of them. 

“Dude,” Jason says. “If you’d told us you were gay, we could’ve slept with the girls you slept with. What a waste, bro.”

“Wait?” Clark furrows his brow. “Were you gay when slept with them?”

Grizz blinks, contemplating a range of responses before he simply says, “Yes.”

“Cool. If I’d known you liked dudes, I would’ve set you up with my cousin. He’s gay. You two would be perfect together.”

“I…” Grizz smiles. “Thanks, Clark.” 

“He’s got the spirit,” Luke mutters as Clark and Jason go to the car. “A little confused, but he’s trying his best. They were discussing…  _ mechanics _ on the way over.” Grizz guffaws. 

They stand on the porch together, quiet. 

“Thank you,” Grizz finally murmurs. 

Luke nods. “I like Sam,” he says quietly. “You seem happy.”

“As happy as we can be, with things the way they are.” Grizz exhales. “Sometimes I think we died on that bus.”

“And we’re where? Purgatory?”

Grizz scrunches his nose. “We saw the writing on the wall.”

“Here’s my advice.” Luke offers a half smile. “Have a beer or two. Find a movie and watch it in bed with Sam.”

“Is that what you and Helena do?” 

“Among other things.” They’re silent for a moment before Luke says, “So much has changed. On the field it was one thing, but now… it’s real now, man. If someone says  _ hey, would you die for the guy next to you?  _ and you say yes, you have to mean it. People have already died, and I think more will.”

“And you meant it?” Grizz asks quietly. 

Luke nods. “I fucked up. I should’ve been stronger for Helena. For what the Guard originally was. You’re the best of us, Grizz.” 

The car horn honks. Luke smiles weakly, then jogs down the driveway. Grizz is left in the freezing cold staring after him.  _ Would I die for him?  _ Their coach always asked what they would give for the guy standing next to them. What they owed each other. Clark, Jason, Luke… they’d all fucked up. But they were his friends. He watches the car drive away.  _ Yes _ , he thinks. He’d die for them, for Becca and Eden. He’d die for Sam, without hesitation. It’s sobering, he realizes, to know what you’d give your life for. In a matter of moments, he feels he has grown up. 

Sam joins him on the front porch and slips his hand into Grizz’s. “I’m glad you’re friends with them,” he says. “Clark and Jason are stupid, but Luke’s a good guy.”

Grizz gave him a small smile. “ _ Viva la revolucion _ ? Fuck, it just sounds crazy.”

Sam smirks. “Never tell me the odds.”

They go back inside, still holding hands. Things aren’t perfect, no. Not even good. But they’re okay, even if it’s just for now. Grizz can live with that.

For now. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! I thrive off comments and kudos, and you can always come chat with me on tumblr (@such-geekiness) about this show (cannot WAIT for season 2)


End file.
